Punishment
by Speedy 316
Summary: A normally boring night shift becomes almost deadly and they meet a man with nothing lose and nothing to gain by what he does. Starts out as T but quickly moves up to M for bad language. Re published all the chapters to fix some really quite horrendous gr
1. Chapter 1: Boredom

**Punishment**

A normally boring night shift becomes almost deadly and they meet a man with nothing lose and nothing to gain by what he does.

Authors Note: I know my story is riddled with potential or very actual plot holes, as I have no beta reader. So you can either take the story as what it is, a story and therefore with a pinch of salt or you can point out the big ones and I will adapt the story accordingly.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 1: Boredom**

"Computer state the time"

"The time is 0100 hours" Harry Kim stared at the star field before him on the view screen the night watch the most boring watch of them all, the command chair just requiring a warm body in the chair rather than anyone with any great experience or knowledge.

That's why the captain so often give the night watch to the junior members of her crew for them gain valuable tactical and command experience for when they move up the ranks when they got home and they all got re-assigned to different ships.

Harry personally didn't want to think about that last bit, reassigned to different ships meant the breaking of this family they had come to develop and they had already lost some really good people Starfleet and Maquis.

At the moment Harry had the habit of badgering the junior officers at there stations with reports every 10 minutes or so because it was so boring, but then something was about to happen to alleviate that boredom quite considerably

"Sir, I think you should take a look at these readings there are kind of strange"

Harry crossed over to his familiar ops station and punched at the controls a look of horror rapt his face as his cross referenced the readings with other findings he had gathered, he wanted to liven things up but not this way! He stood up straight with young crewman looking oddly back at him before Harry shouted at the top of his lungs

"RED ALERT ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS" and then in a slightly quieter voice to the comm system "all senior officers to the bridge" he don't know why he said it, it was a red alert situation all senior officers would have come to the bridge immediately anyway but he felt the need to say it. Harry started barking out orders until the other senior officers arrived "Crewman Jones raise shields all phaser banks and torpedo bays at the ready, Crewman Benitez push us up to maximum warp, how long will it take them to intercept us."

"About two minutes sir Benitez reported back" two minutes before all hell broke loose Harry thought, although with all the crewmembers on the bridge rushing around maybe it had come early.

A female voice came over the comm system

"What is it Harry?" it was the captain she sounded like she was bounding down the hallway towards the turbo lift as Commander Tuvok and Chakotay stepped onto the bridge in their night attire. It was a red alert situation no time to dance about jumping into your Starfleet uniform and all that.

"There is a transwarp signature on sensors captain heading on a intercept course" Harry relinquished control of the bridge to Commander Chakotay

"Confirmed Captain" Chakotay jumped in as Harry moved back to ops "Intercept in 1 minute"

The rest of the bridge officers appeared all their night attire except for the captain who couldn't really walk onto her bridge in a nightgown so had thrown on just a pair of trousers and a shirt she was still barefoot though. Also Seven of Nine crossed to the secondary engineering station in her normal dress after all she didn't sleep so she had no night attire

"Have we determined the class of vessel Seven" the Captain sat in the command chair

"The signature is consistent with that of a sphere Captain" Seven replied

The captain knew it could be worse it could have been a cube or even a diamond class vessel but she knew a sphere is just as dangerous as any Borg ship. Suddenly they were rocked by a shot.

"Shields down to 80 percent, I have modified phasers for rotating modulation" Tuvok shouted

"Incoming transmission" Harry reported they all knew what they were going to hear but the Captain nodded for Harry to open a channel maybe the Borg have come up with something new she thought.

"Starfleet vessel we are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your ship …" at that point Janeway made the cut sign she sighed the Borg obviously haven't come up with anything new to say.

"Return fire" she ordered

"Direct hit, no effect" Another hit rocked the ship blowing out consoles and throwing people around

"Shields down to 40"

"Fire at will Mr. Tuvok" Tuvok punched the controls as all phasers fired and a volley of torpedoes launched themselves from the aft bay.

"The sphere has taken minor damage" another hit rocked the ship "Shields down to 10, we have lost both phasers and torpedo launchers"

"Warp and impulse is offline"

"Evasive manoeuvres get those weapons back!" Harry stared at consternation at his console before shouting his findings

"Captain another ship is coming in, the warp signature reads Federation"

"What! That's not possible, what class of ship is it" she turned her head with everyone but Tom who was really concentrating on keeping them alive

"Defiant Captain, Starfleet registry identifies it as the USS Sword."

The new vessel entered the fray immediately taking what could have been a killing blow for Voyager on its own shields before opening up its pulse cannons onto the ship. The ship launched as single torpedo, which ripped into the sphere causing a massive explosion. The Voyager crew stared at amazement at what was transpiring on the bridge as this little ship was tearing the Borg sphere a new hull.

"Open a hailing channel to the ship"

"This Captain Kathryn Janeway to the Starfleet vessel please respond"

"No response Captain" Harry reported

They watched on the view screen as another volley of pulse phaser rounds ripped into the torpedo wound on the hull of the sphere.

"The Borg vessel has suffered massive damage they are retreating but the Starfleet vessel is pursuing it" Tuvok reported quietly surprised

Tom turned and smiled "The Borg turning tail and running from a little ship like that, you never would have thought it" As Tom uttered those words the "little ship" launched another one of what it looks like specially made torpedoes into the already gaping wound which set off a chain reaction of explosions which destroyed the sphere. The Starfleet vessel whipped round and doubled back to Voyager

"The vessel is hailing"

"Open a channel" a man came on the screen in his late thirties with slight beard growing under his chin, hair all unkempt and not brushed at all. He was missing his right eye and he carried various holsters with weapons in them. He wore a Starfleet uniform one of the older kinds but over that was beaten up old leather jacket that went all the way down to his feet.

"Sorry about before I don't like to talk during a fight, detracts from the ass kicking I have to be dishing out, this is Lieutenant Hartstone of the USS Sword"

"Mr Hartstone first I have to thank you for your gallantry but what is a vessel of that nature doing out this far"

"I could toss that question back at you, propulsion must have made staggering leaps since I have been gone"

"Not really" she replied "I think it would be best served for both of us if you transported aboard our vessel I am thinking we would have a lot to tell each other"

"I agree Captain ……" he was fishing for a name

"Janeway" she filled in the gap for all her questions and amazement she had forgotten her to introduce herself "and this my ship the USS Voyager"

"She looks a fine ship but she could use a bit of a boost in the ass kicking department it seems if I wasn't around then you would have been drone's by now, or if you were lucky you would have been dead" He said the word dead with an unusual tone. Janeway turned to her other officers before turning back she didn't know what to make of a man that would choose death rather than assimilation.

"I'll beam aboard in 5 hours it looks like most of you were asleep or are ready for bed"

"The Borg have to attack at unsociable hours but we are all up now"

"That's the combat high all that adrenaline pumping through your veins, you'll all be up for hours now but I need a little sleep as well as you do probably, see you then" the view screen clicked off back to star field. The man carried himself like a Starfleet officer, although brash and arrogant Captain Janeway thought and obviously personal hygiene was lost on the man, he looked like a true solider but what was he fighting for or against.


	2. Chapter 2: Storytime

**Punishment**

A normally boring night shift becomes almost deadly and they meet a man with nothing lose and nothing to gain by what he does.

Authors Note: I know my story is riddled with potential or very actual plot holes, as I have no beta reader. So you can either take the story as what it is, a story and therefore with a pinch of salt or you can point out the big ones and I will adapt the story accordingly.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 2: Storytime**

The transporter beam whirred into life as their guest had materialise aboard their vessel. Captain Janeway was standing on the deck as was Commander Chakotay and Tuvok all now dressed in their Starfleet uniforms now. Harry was at the controls performing the transport. Lieutenant Hartstone appeared on the platform and got his bearings before looking down at the three figures before him

"Good morning I am Captain Kathryn Janeway and this is my first officer Commander Chakotay, and my Chief of Security Lieutenant Commander Tuvok"

"Lieutenant Simon Hartstone of the USS Sword good morning" he replied he looked at the first officer before saying "You do have something to tell me starting why you have a Maquis commander as your first officer"

"Long story short we have been thrown into the Delta Quadrant by a life form known as the Caretaker along with Commander Chakotay and his Maquis ship after the Commander sacrificed his ship to save this one we integrated his Maquis crew into my Starfleet one and we have been a well oiled machine ever since"

"Well there were a few teething problems at the start" the Commander interjected smiling slightly

"There were weren't there" she smiled back "But we are a well oiled machine now"

"Fascinating" Lieutenant Hartstone, said as they finished the story.

"What about you" the Captain turned back to their guest

"My story has no short version only the long and the very long version"

"Well we are going to meet the rest of my senior staff for breakfast, I think your story would be a great thing to discuss over breakfast"

"Fair enough I have not eaten anything yet either" he replied

"Do you have any other crew members?" Tuvok questioned

"Nope just me alone with my thoughts." Tuvok raised his eyebrow, they got to the mess hall, there were a few crewmembers having their breakfast before their shifts started, they turned to look at the three most senior officers on Voyager walk in with a stranger and sit at the far table were the rest of the senior staff was sitting. Mr Hartstone sat as the Captain went round the table introducing everyone

"The rest of my senior staff, Lieutenants Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres Chief Pilot and Chief Engineer respectively, Ensign Harry Kim Chief Operations officer, The Doctor Chief Medical Officer, Mr. Neelix Ships Ambassador, Morale Officer, Head Chef and hundreds of other duties that would take to long to recount" she smiled at him a little before continuing "and last but certainly not least Seven of Nine my Astrometrics officer."

"Lieutenant Simon Hartstone" he went round the table shaking everyone's hand "She's a former drone, that's pretty rare only the toughest make it back to humanity after assimilation"

"Mr Hartstone sit, what's your pleasure" Neelix said

"What's on the menu?"

"Scrambled eggs and toast, cheese omelette…." he stopped Neelix before he could get any further

"Scrambled eggs would be fine" Neelix bolted off to cook up the eggs for their guest Tom waited until Neelix was well out of earshot before whispering

"We all take our own lives into our hands every day by eating Neelix's cooking" he smiled

"Well I have been living off Starfleet emergency rations for the past 5 years, anything would be a welcome luxury even if it does include a little food poisoning."

Neelix had returned with Simon's scrambled eggs and toast and picked up on the conversation "Emergency rations for the last 5 years how horrible" he gasped

"You get used to the taste" and he thought before returning "or lack their-of after the first hundred portions or so" he smiled as he tucked into his eggs

"How long have you been in the Delta Quadrant?" Harry asked

"The last 10 years"

"Ouch 10 years in the Delta Quadrant how did you end up here in the first place?"

"Assimilation"

"You were assimilated" Seven spoke up

"Indeed I was" he lifted up a tuft of his unkempt hair to reveal a piece of cranial plating as well as he lifted up his shirt to reveal another star shaped implant on the left side of his stomach. "Suffice to say I still have implants all over my body as well as nanoprobes swimming around my blood, also" he pointed to his missing eye lifting up the patch to reveal another implant "haven't found a replacement for this eye yet" the Doctor jumped in

"Well maybe there is something I can do about that, Seven's left eye is a prosthetic eye. When were you assimilated?" The Doctor asked

"Stardate 42761.3 Doctor …… you got a name don't you?" Simon was fishing for a name again

"I'm sorry I don't have a name I'm a emergency medical hologram after the medical staff of Voyager was killed by our journey into the Delta Quadrant I have been active ever since"

"Did you say Stardate 42761.3 Mr Hartstone?" Seven was in deep thought as she thought of something

"I did" he wasn't smiling but he wasn't frowning but he knew what she was going to say

"What is it Seven?" The Captain said with a quizzical look on her face

"Captain Stardate 42761.3 was the date the entity known as Q threw the USS Enterprise D into the path of the first Borg cube" they all turned back to Simon he looked straight at them through his one eye and just replied

"Yep, three sections of three decks of the Enterprise were removed from the ship for study I just happened to be on one of those decks at the time"

"Bad luck eh" Harry jumped in

"Yep horrendously bad as it happens the worst luck of my life"

"So what happened who pulled the plug on your link?" Tom asked

"No one in fact about 6 years ago a freak power surge in the cube I was serving on severed my neural connection, with a combination of guile, cunning, a bit of brawling and good luck I managed to beam to a planet. The Borg must have deemed me irrelevant or unable to survive outside of the collective or both because they never come back for me. A found a colony and after quashing initial fears of a Borg invasion they managed to remove most of my implants. I then odd jobbed my way round the Quadrant for a bit before I found a world decimated by the Borg all signs of life and technology removed. That's when I decided some one had to step up and fight back. I found a Borg assimilation yard where I found a number of vessels being stripped for materials and technology and that's when I found the USS Sword, so I took it back and I managed to evade a sphere by flying into a nebula."

"Why didn't you fight you made destroying that sphere" B'Elanna pointed out the window "look easy" she finished

"The Sword was stripped I had to control everything manually and you cannot fight if you have no weapons, the phaser banks were offline and there were no torpedoes to fire"

"It is not like Borg to leave a Drone behind," Seven added

"I know but I'm here so I am not complaining about their change of heart"

"Why didn't you set a course for home like we are doing you surely can't think you can fight the Borg single handily?" Tom said

"I can sure as hell try and there is nothing left for me at home"

"What about family" Janeway interrupted

"My brothers were assimilated at the battle of Wolf 359 when their thoughts became one with mine I found out that my mother and father were killed by the Borg a few years before when they ran into a cube scouting the area for the attack on the Alpha Quadrant, and I was married to the uniform at the time."

"What about Aunt's and Uncle's any of them" Harry said

"None both my parents were only children, of course there were friends of family that I considered Aunts and Uncles when very young but I'd probably think they would have moved on"

"Yep" that's all he could say the memories still ran deep, the shared thoughts of him and his brothers always hit home. Janeway sensed that story time was over for now

"Captain I suggest we move our ships away from this Borg debris fields as you may know or not know the Borg have the habit of returning to salvage any functioning equipment, I can tell the Sword to match your course and speed."

"Ok Mr. Hartstone that does seem like the most prudent course of action in the meantime, Doctor I think that you should take Mr Hartstone to sickbay to fit him for that prosthetic eye, everyone else can go about their business I'll be on the bridge if you need me" Janeway got up an exited as everyone else stood

"Mr Paris can you assist me in Sickbay"

"I have a duty shift on the bridge to begin soon"

"Don't worry about it Tom" Chakotay said "assist the Doctor I will tell the Captain where you are"

"Aye Sir"


	3. Chapter 3: The Man is a Killer

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 3: The Man is a killer**

"Please sit down Mr. Hartstone while I perform some scans" The Doctor indicated to sit on the main biobed in the centre of sickbay

"What was it like serving on the Enterprise with those legends" Tom said

"What legends?"

"Captain Picard and Commander Riker and the rest of the Enterprise greats"

Simon laughed and laughed hard "Keep still Mr Hartstone" The Doctor said as he was scanning up and down

"Sorry Doc, I just don't think that Captain Picard or Commander Riker would call themselves greats or legends not yet anyway. Even so I rarely saw the big guns I was a low level Lieutenant on Mr. Worf's security team and call me Simon please I have been alone for so long I don't think rank even matters anymore"

"Mr Hartstone what have you been doing to yourself"

"What do you mean Doc?"

"Your in horrendous health you have multiple un healed wounds up and down your body scars one of kidneys is not working properly and your liver is shot to hell"

"Well Doc when you have spent the last five years fighting the Borg you pick up the odd scar or two and as for the kidneys and liver, well that'll happen when you end up drinking real alcohol most nights"

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Don't know I have been alone so long I have just been living with the memory that my family is dead for too long and you just do crazy stuff like kill yourself with alcohol"

"Looks like I will have to repair that damage as well"

"If you like Doc" he shrugged he was just going to kill them back with alcohol

"I must tell you Mr. Hartstone that I must link the optic nerve of your new eye into the Borg implants that exist there already so you will have enhanced vision in one eye"

"Ok" he shrugged again

"Lie down, Mr. Paris can you get me a hypo spray of anaesthetic please"

"Sure Doc" Paris crossed over to a table and loaded a hypo-spray and brought it over to the Doctor

"When you wake up Mr. Hartstone you will have two eyes and a better kidney and liver"

"Cool" he said as the Doctor injected him and he passed out

* * *

The Captain was sitting on the bridge thinking about their guest in sickbay, looking at his ship on the view screen it looked like some major modifications had been made, and those torpedoes where not Starfleet standard issue photon torpedoes.

She wanted to send an away team over to his ship just so they could take a look around to see what he had done with himself for the past 5 years but she knew sending over an away team without his permission first would be a violation of his privacy.

He said he had been fighting against the Borg for the last 5 years but why, why would he do such a thing, the Borg work on a collective conscience no one was really responsible for their actions as a drone they have no free will, no individuality.

Unless he was trying to get some sense of redemption from it, or maybe revenge the Borg after all took his family that would drive anyone to revenge. Once he got out the Doc's surgery she was going to have to have a little talk with Mr Hartstone about his motives for the course of action he has taken in dealing with his grief and maybe he has been living with that grief for too long.

Chakotay came onto the bridge and sat down next to the Captain and stared at his console for a few seconds and tapped in some controls before turning to his Captain

"Penny for your thoughts Captain"

"Huh what" she shook herself out of her stupor "I was just thinking about our guest"

"I know, I was to, news travels at warp speed, most of the crew have already heard about the man who is taking on the Borg on his own, the crews thoughts are divided while some think the man is clearly unstable and should be locked in a padded cell, others believe this man is a hero and should be decorated by Starfleet I heard Crewman Dalby down in Engineering say 'its about time someone stepped up to the plate and took those bastards on'

"Well I would like to know one person's opinions on all these events who I haven't heard speak up yet" Chakotay looked at her for a second before realising who she was talking about "I'll be in Astrometrics" Chakotay just nodded frankly he wouldn't mind hearing Seven on Nine's thoughts on this man.

* * *

Captain Janeway paced down the hallway after jumping off the turbo-lift at deck 8 she entered the door to Astrometrics.

"Hello Seven what are you working on?"

"Before Lieutenant Hartstone went to sickbay he allowed me access to his computer for any astrometric data that could be useful to us as well as I was studying scans of the altercation with the sphere, Mr Hartstone's weapons seemed to be unusually effective against the Borg"

"And what do you think of the man himself?"

"From what he has said to date Mr Hartstone sounds like an erratic individual, he seems to base most of his actions on emotion, anger mostly over the Borg assimilating his family, I do not understand this course of action since there was nothing he could have done in either situation. While his goal is clearly admirable his method of achieving his goal is inefficient"

"What do you think his ultimate goal is?"

"I assume that Mr Hartstone's ultimate goal is to bring down the collective but destroying one ship at a time is inefficient, also I believe the goal is thoroughly unattainable he is one man against thousands of vessels, and worlds with billions of drones"

"Mr Hartstone has based his fight on revenge the Borg have hurt him, violated him and his family so he wants to hurt them back, revenge is a human instinct, a very basic one goes back a long way someone hurt you so you have to hurt them back."

"But this man is no better than the Borg his tactical database over the past five years have recorded over 50 altercations with the collective and has destroyed 5 cubes 10 spheres as well as a number of scout vessels for a man to survive that long must be an excellent tactician but he has committed mass murder on a grand scale over the past five years, there are normally 5000 drones on a cube and 1000 on a sphere the numbers are epic he has murdered thousands of would be individuals"

The Captain stood back a little bit and took it all in, she was right why was this man doing this, she had participated in the destruction of a cube but that was in self defence this man actively seeked out the Borg to kill them. The operation should be over by now she thought and she thought the time for there chat should be now.


	4. Chapter 4: Tricks of the Trade

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 4: Tricks of the Trade**

"May we join you?" a voice said from what sounded like afar but in fact was only a couple of metres away

"Huh, oh yeah sure" Harry, B'Elanna and Tom filled out the rest of the seats in the table

"How's that new eye" Harry decided to break the ice after a few seconds silence between the three.

"It's a bit weird seeing with two's eyes Ensign Kim is it"

"Harry please" he said in response

"What were those torpedoes you fired at the Borg they caused massive damage, I don't think the Captain would mind having some of those the next time we run into the Borg." Tom decided to jump in and ask what they were all really thinking, but Simon didn't mind a bit.

"Armour Piercing torpedo's with a antimatter charge of 80 kiloton yield, designed by myself naturally, also having a delayed explosion of 10 seconds also kind of helps."

"Why Armour Piercing" B'Elanna came back after ordering a drink from the replicator

"Why not, an explosion of that magnitude is much more effective on the inside of a ship, that's why I decided to build torpedoes that could pierce hulls and detonate inside the ship instead of outside the ship and not realise the destructive potential"

"How did you come up with that?" Tom asked and Harry nodded obviously thinking of the same thing

"When you have 6 years just thinking of ways to beat the Borg, you normally come up with something" Simon said with a slight smirk

"What about those pulse phasers I have never seen anything like it"

"Pulse Phasers were standard issue for the Defiant class, I just managed to up their power and rate of fire by tying them directly into the warp core"

"You do know if your phasers overload, you'll have a core breach in a matter of seconds" B'Elanna put her engineering spin on it

"Well lets just hope my phasers don't overload then don't we, I have also tied the warp core into the shields for extra strength, as well as fixing on extra hull plating to create some ablative armour"

"You must be some kind of weapons expert!" Harry chimed in

"Well I don't like to say expert but I do know some shit!" Simon smiled

"What about personal arms I saw some pretty odd looking weapons when you were in Sickbay" Tom took the line of questioning in another direction.

"Ancient Earth weapons known as handguns or pistols" he drew one out of the holster and removed the clip "Uses a small amount of a substance known as gunpowder which ignites and pushes a small piece of metal down the barrel." He help up the clip "This is known as the clip or magazine, I get 15 shots in that before I have to reload" by now everyone in the mess hall had crowded round as the Lieutenant explained himself "The gun was called a Desert Eagle although I have never found out why."

"Why don't you carry standard hand phasers surely these are prone to malfunctioning?" a young crewman from the back spoke up

"I have found rotating modulation phasers to be ineffective in fighting the Borg in the early days I found that I managed to push a rotating modulation phaser to about 14 shots but that was it. To answer your second question these are actually less prone to malfunction than a phaser all they need is a little care"

"Surely the Borg must have adapted to such a weapon" another crewman joined in quite a crowd was forming around the table as Simon was giving a demonstration on how to arm the weapon.

"No they haven't, that's the thing when fighting the Borg I believe the more primitive the weapon the better they seem to have to trouble adapting to being shot by physical objects such as bullets or even arrows." He got up, after reloading and holstering his weapon "I also carry a burst weapon known as a shotgun as well as an assault rifle and the relevant ammunition for it."

"So you have boarded Borg vessels?" Harry said, as Simon sat down again after holstering the weapon the readjusting the holsters.

"A couple yes, normally when I need something normally tactical information for example"

"We did board a Borg sphere once and stole a transwarp drive" Tom said with a slight brag in her voice.

"Now that is bold, I have never done that I don't think I any one man could do that."

Once as he said that Mr. Tuvok stepped in and was slightly taken aback by the show before he stepped in.

"Mr. Hartstone the Captain would like to see you." Tuvok said in his usual monotone voice.

"Of course, and they both stepped out of the door" Simon stood up again and the crowd parted to let him through as most where just making their way back to their seats.

They walked down the corridor before Tuvok spoke up

"What was the nature of the conversation that had the crew so captivated?"

"Old war stories, some of my methods and tactics and the weapons that I have developed" As they got into the turbo lift Tuvok turned to him and said

"I would interested to hear some of your tactics as well as your technologies could benefit Voyager in its journey home …. Bridge"

"We'll have to set up a meeting" Simon smiled but Tuvok naturally didn't show any emotion.

The turbo lift opened onto the bridge and they stepped out before Tuvok's final words

"I'm sorry Mr. Hartstone I cannot let you before the Captain so armed"

"I was interested to see that you didn't take them off me when I beamed aboard" as he removed the holster holding his desert eagles and his ammunition belt

"Admittedly a failing on my part as chief of security of this vessel but you did not seem to pose a threat as you had just saved our lives"

"I didn't think Vulcans made those kind of snap judgements about people"

"Normally we don't but serving with Captain Janeway has always taught me sometime I have to trust instinct as well as logic"

Simon smiled again as he went down to his ankle and removed an dagger he kept tied to his ankle

"Thank you Mr. Tuvok I will take that as a compliment"

"Take the statement as you wish Mr. Hartstone however it is the truth." Simon smiled Tuvok rang the bell


	5. Chapter 5: Q and A with Captain Janeway

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 5: Q & A with Captain Janeway**

The Captain was sitting in her ready room trying to work but not getting anywhere and drinking more and more coffee, thinking about what Seven of Nine said more and more.

The bell chimed and Lieutenant Hartstone stepped in being escorted by Tuvok

"Lieutenant Hartstone Captain"

"Thank You Mr. Tuvok your are dismissed"

"How's that new eye working out for you Mr Hartstone?"

"Good Captain I can see better than if I had two human eyes thanks to the Borg I suppose," he grunted out the last end of that statement

"I just have a few questions about your life"

"Shoot"

"Why do you do, what you do surely your family would want you to be happy but your purposely make yourself unhappy, you've been living off ration bars for the past five years why?"

"Ration bars require the least amount of power to replicate" he answered "As for why I hunt out Borg vessels well someone has too"

"That's not a valid answer to my question"

"The Borg are a menace, a plague to the universe, Starfleet only came out of their altercation with the Borg after massive damage to the fleet as well I have heard about other races being tossed aside by the Borg like paper no one has developed a real way to defeat them."

"Seven of Nine accessed your tactical database she said you have been personally responsible for the destruction of at least 5 cubes and 10 spheres if not more, that's thousands of people you have killed."

"Well what did you think I have been doing for the past five years, I don't hunt Borg vessels to give them a telling off and to never do it again."

"But the people"

"Drones, Borg Drones better off dead"

"There are drones that have been liberated from the collective you're a walking example of it as well as Seven of Nine and Captain Picard"

"I was an accident and plus don't you think I know that, don't you think I might have tried that, myself and Seven of Nine are rare but not rare, we are not rare because I have seen many liberated drones but we are rare because we are the only ones who want to stay as individuals, most of the other ones I have seen have become so dependant on the collective so they either go crazy from the loneliness without the others and commit suicide or grab a ship and fly into the path of a cube either way they are dead." Simon dropped his head like he almost felt sorry for them, and he did.

"For a certain amount of time at least you have to make the decisions for them, Seven of Nine at first wanted to rejoin the collective but we took care of her and now she is a human being with free will"

"I haven't got the time to play wet nurse to ex-borg drones, I'm all about the fight at the end of the day its what I live for."

"But you have to try"

"I have tried plus I am not a doctor, I don't have the expertise of your Doctor hell I don't even have any expertise at all about being anything except a killer, I cannot pull out all the Borg implants hell I wouldn't know where to start" Simon was starting to get angry a lot of the other ships he had saved had not stopped with the thanking him although he did not want to be thanked all the time, he did not care for the thankless.

"Maybe you could take them to a doctor that can"

"There isn't enough time like I said they go nuts without the others, I even had one guy die from multiple force field burns because he kept trying to walk through it"

"Why do you think you have the right to decide whether these people live or die?"

"I don't have the right, I didn't join Starfleet to kill or be killed but the other person I blame for this I cant get my hands on the other egotistical, omnipotent scum of the universe." Janeway thought for a second about that before just thinking of one person

"Q"

"I see you have met him," Lieutenant Hartstone said, Janeway could only find a wry smile

"We have had a couple of run-ins" Janeway could put it that way

"Well if I ever meet him I'll put my fist so far down his throat I'll be able to tear the label of his damn underpants" the Lieutenant emphasized this more by slapping his right fist into his left palm.

"One enemy of the Federation at a time, surely you have done enough to make the Borg notice you, you could go back to Starfleet and share your innovations and with the collective of humanity behind you the Borg would never threaten humanity again"

"I have thought of that" his head bowed "but I can't ignore this quadrant either there are people here too captain, good people who don't deserve to be drones or dead.

"You'd be helping strangers people you haven't met never likely to meet" Captain Janeway couldn't believe she said that, strangers were the reason she and her crew were here.

"Also I got the more details on why you're here, destroying something that potentially get you home to save another race from being attacked." Captain Janeway thought that Lieutenant Hartstone must be a telepath of some kind to pick up in the one fault in her argument. "I asked around I was curious as to why you're here as well as me, I also found out that you have had dealings with another Federation ship in this region of space the Equinox, I agree that they needed to be hunted down after what they were doing to those aliens but handing the crew over to the aliens was not an acceptable compromise"

"We didn't hand over the crew most of the Equinox crew now serve aboard Voyager after the Equinox had been destroyed"

"But not all of them, 3 or 4 crewmembers including the Captain were left to die either killed by the aliens or killed by the explosion either way its murder"

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the klaxons sounded

"Red Alert all hands to battle stations" Commander Chakotay's voice came over the com. The both bounded out of the Captain's ready room and onto the bridge.


	6. Chapter 6: The end is nearly here

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 6: The End is Nearly Here**

"Report" the Captain shouted as she and Lieutenant Hartstone stepped out onto the bridge

"A transwarp conduit has opened directly in front of us and a Cube is emerging" Tuvok reported from the tactical station.

"All phasers and torpedoes at the ready" the Captain ordered

The cube came to a stop directly in front of them everyone expected to be attacked instantly but it was like an old fashioned stare down between mortal enemies

"There is a transmission coming through Captain from the Borg"

"Lets hear it then"

"It's a visual transmission Captain" this shocked her a bit she expected it to be the same old spiel about lower shields and surrendering her ship

"Lets see it then"

Like lightening the Borg queen herself appeared on the monitor

"Hello Captain Janeway but your not the one I am here to address, 3 of 12 how are you?" Everyone looked around for a second before Lieutenant Hartstone stepped forward

"The name is Simon Hartstone and what the hell do you want"

"You have become separated from the collective, you were abandoned and considered not able to survive outside the collective a mistake on our part" the Queen smiled slightly at the end of that sentence.

"Well frankly it was the first time I was glad to be abandoned" Simon smiled right back

"We have had enough of this vendetta you have against us, we have given your family perfection and now we wish to offer you a chance to rejoin this family"

"For one thing you have given nothing to my family but slavery and as for your offer you can go and fuck off, I'd rather die than return to the collective"

"The offer is not a request it is more mandatory, you have tactical data on us that would add to our own perfection COMPLY with our request"

"Kiss my ass"

"Fair enough we will make you another offer comply with our request or your ship and the Voyager crew will be assimilated we will give you 5 minutes to think over your decision"

Lieutenant Hartstone took one look around and then made for his weapons and started attaching the holsters back to his body.

"What are you doing" Janeway looked at him with a puzzled look

"I intend to face them, looks like this is the final fight for me time to implement Plan B

"And what is plan B" Seven said

"Plan B stands for Blow Up the cube Seven of Nine" Simon turned to B'Elanna and said "Time to test your theory, Lieutenant if I overload the phaser banks it would generate a warp core breach also before that happens it will loose a rather large phaser bolt right into the inside of their ship crippling it"

"And then" Seven asked

"Boom!" Simon shouted catching everyone by surprise "A warp core breach blows the ship into teeny tiny bits, I will also need to cause a distraction aboard the cube while this all goes on, I'll have to beam aboard the cube and start causing a ruckus"

"You will also be killed in the explosion," Seven pointed out the obvious

"Yep" Hartstone said simply

"What about your torpedo's?" Tom spoke up "They could cut through their hull like paper"

"I would if I had some but I used the last two I have got destroying that sphere and it takes a hell of a lot longer than 5 minutes to make more." He hooked his combat knife to his chest for easy access to it.

"But we could beam you off before the explosion happened provided you haven't already been assimilated" Harry put forward his idea

"I couldn't ask you to do that it looks like the Borg are wanting me either back in the collective or dead, if you took me aboard Voyager would be constantly hounded by Borg vessels"

The all lowered their heads they knew that was quite probable. Mr Hartstone slid towards the turbo lift doors before turning back and saying "You know I started this fight for Starfleet but some people have been saying things and they are right this fight has now degenerated into revenge for me, the only way to get my kicks" Simon looked straight into the Captain's eyes as he said this. "Well looking around looks like this last fight is back for the reasons I started for, Starfleet"

"He turned and walked into the turbo lift with the Voyager bridge crew looking back at him"

Suddenly the Sword powered up and moved away from the cube before doubling back and opening up a volley of phaser fire on the cube, the cube came back with some hits with its own weapons before locking a tractor beam onto the Sword. He tried to re-modulate the shield frequencies but the cube kept is hold. The cube started to reel in the Sword at which point Lieutenant Hartstone began the overload sequence and masked it as a small power surge while looking like trying to break free of the cube's tractor beam.

A transporter beam activated and a man materialised inside the cube and he was armed to the teeth, shotgun's machine guns, pistols he had it all. Simon just thought to himself that today really was a good day to die and before he knew really what he was doing instincts kicked in and he pulled out the shotgun, his favourite weapon and opened up on a Borg distribution node and he just thought the end is nearly here.


	7. Chapter 7: Family Reunion

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 7: A Family Reunion**

Certainly opening up on that distribution node had really gotten the Borg's attention because drones were starting to close on him from all sides, Simon had decided to not let them surround him so he started to move forward, 2 shells and 2 dead drones, he pulled out a tricorder and scanned the surrounding area. He managed to modify a tricorder to lock onto the Borg queen's signal and he progressed forward towards that signal.

Of course the queen would be killed by a big fat warp core explosion from the Sword but he always dreamed of taking the queen on and taking her down with his own hands not through some silly warp core explosion he wanted to stand their and gloat over her fallen corpse. Of course something will probably step in and fill the gap another queen would take her place giving order to the chaos he was about to create but he was creating chaos already.

He moved forward another two Borg surprised him from a side passage knocking his gun down he managed to get a shot off which sheared through one of the drones legs which fell over instantly before he could raise it though another drone had moved into his personal space and raised his hands to Simon's neck.

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"Where is he" Janeway barked

"Sensors say he progress towards an area with a huge chamber most likely the Borg Queen is there Captain" Tuvok said in his usual emotionless tone

"If he moves into that chamber we won't be able to get a lock on him there is a dampening field around the chamber" Harry added to the conversation

"Well let's do our part to rectify that situation Mr Tuvok, lock all phasers on their main power generators and fire"

"Phasers firing, direct hit their power is fluctuating"

"Fire at will Mr Tuvok bring it down"

"Yes Captain

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Simon had managed to deflect the hand temporarily but it had started to come back at him, he dropped his shotgun and drew his combat knife, sparring for a little while before managing to chop the hand off, the drone reeled back and he used the opportunity to bury the knife deep into the Borg drones head. Another drone surprised him from behind, he managed to push off a bulkhead and slam into the opposite bulkhead before jabbing his right leg between the drone's legs and twisting away and in one fluid motion both hands on the drone's head and all Simon heard was the snap of a broken neck as he twisted the drone's head to the side.

He retrieved his shotgun and looked at the drone that was now missing a leg and he pumped another shell into the chamber of the shotgun and the chest of the Borg exploded with a yellow alien blood as he put a shell into the damaged drone's chest. He walked over and looked into the cold dead eyes of the drone with a knife sticking out of its head and proceed to extricate the knife and with a squelching sound came out with a little bit of brain end trailing on it. He absently wiped the knife on the back of his leg before returning it to its sheath.

The ship rocked once more and Simon thought that the phasers couldn't have overloaded this quickly, he wondered what was going on he stopped at an access panel an accessed a visual of Voyager firing phasers

"What the hell are they doing" he tapped his combadge "Simon to Voyager get the hell out of here you've have 2 maybe 3 minutes before this ship goes boom"

Janeway responded "And we intend on getting you out of there before that happens but you have to move away from that area now"

"I can't do that Captain me and the Queen we have some issues we need to work out, I intend to work them out with her, preferably including multiple bullet wounds to her torso"

"Your are crazy its one thing to sacrifice your ship for mine which I am grateful for but sacrificing your life is really crazy"

"I'm a pretty crazy guy Captain, years alone and all my thoughts bent of blowing the queens brains all over a bulkhead have all that have kept me going" Simon cut the commlink and proceeded to move forward he looked at his tricorder, he was close

He looked at the door to the Queen's chamber and thought he couldn't pick locks, but he could sure as hell blow the lock and the door up. Simon set an explosive charge on the door and set it off and the huge explosion ensuing blew two drones off their feet, Simon stepped through the wreckage, putting the final remaining shotgun shells into the two drones that were trying to recover from the blast, both their chests exploded in a more familiar red display.

"Knock, Knock anyone home" the Queen stepped forward and moved through some of the wreckage that had been blown far enough to her feet.

"You know I would have opened the door for you" she retorted

"Yeah but I wanted to make my entrance more dramatic" she waved off the apparent humour wanted to get down to business

"Ready to rejoin the collective" Simon thought about reloading the shotgun, he had the shells but it would take to long, also he needed to surprise the Queen if he was going to get her.

"Nope and I'm here to take you out of it" right then a massive explosion rocked the ship the Queen looked into the air away in her own little world for a second, communicating with the drones aboard the cube.

"You have overloaded the phaser banks on your vessel and your vessels warp core is going to breach."

"If your trying to blow it back out into space don't bother I have generated an inverse warp field you'd have to send your drones to push it out of your docking bay" he smiled a cunning smile

"You would kill yourself to kill me?" she questioned a little puzzled but this act.

"Don't flatter yourself Queenie, I'm going to be alive when you die" right then he dropped his shotgun and drew his Desert Eagles and let fly with everything they had.

The Borg Queen with a wave of her hand a force field came up protecting her from the onslaught as Simon emptied the smoking clips onto the ground he raised an eyebrow

"We may not have been able to adapt to your somewhat archaic weaponry but that doesn't mean we don't have a few tricks ourselves"

He reloaded he thought he just needs another shot at catching her off guard maybe a little more witty banter will help and he cocked the weapons and he lowered them again smiling.

"Oh well then looks like I am going to die at the same time as you never mind, you dying that's the goal here"

"And your family will die as well" at that moment his brothers stepped out from behind the queen "Of course your mother and father were killed by the Borg that was unfortunate but still your family stands before you, can you kill them before the end" she gestured her hand "Assimilate him"

Lieutenant Hartstone's only family moved towards him menacingly with only one intention on their minds, Simon backed off slowly he couldn't do it and the Queen knew it, he couldn't murder the only family he ever had. Simon had time to pick up his shotgun again and force six shells into the chamber but he couldn't pull the trigger, he tried again nope something in him was stopping him do it.

"You'll be one with us before the end and killing me will not help there are drones specially groomed to take my place if I die. Your tactical data on us will still serve the collective as well as your unique way of fighting us. We will adapt and become more perfect because of you" They were almost on him he wanted to pull the trigger, he knew he should but he couldn't they were Borg but they were still his brothers.

They were about on him assimilation tubules ready when something snapped in him he screamed out in a death cry and fired at them both taking them both out in one hit and he shot again making them reel further he pumped and shot again and again. His brothers dropped to the ground, he took the time to give one last final gesture to the Borg Queen one she didn't fully understand the meaning of putting ones middle fingers up at someone.

"Fuck off Queenie time to die" and he bolted out of the chamber and down the corridor

"Hartstone to Voyager, I know your there, you shouldn't be there but you are, and I would like to formally request to be a member of your family"

Janeway could only say "Permission Granted Mr. Hartstone stand by"

"Stand by Mr Hartstone" Harry's voice came over the comm link

Lieutenant Hartstone saw the explosions started to happen all around him, combined with the warp core breach and Voyagers phaser fire the structural integrity was going to fail in about 3 seconds. 3,2,1 and all he could see is white. The cube exploded in a spectacular way, as Voyagers nacelles rose up and went to warp just as the shockwave from the explosion hit.


	8. Chapter 8: Goodbye

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 8: Goodbye**

He thought the white would last forever, he thought it was over, he thought he would see his brothers and his parents again. Suddenly the white faded and he was looking at two faces in the transporter room, the looks of a nice young female crewman performing the transport, and the bald holographic doctor standing there medical tricorder in his hand.

"I think I should commit you to sickbay Mr. Hartstone with severe mental deficiencies after that little stunt you pulled." Simon sat down on the transporter pad he didn't need the Doctor's remarks right now he didn't need anyone's remarks.

"Bridge to Transporter Room 2 do you have him" Janeway's voice came over the comm, Simon just thought that's a little late but then he thought that Janeway had enough on her hands getting this ship away from a huge explosion. The female crewman tapped her commbadge lightly

"We have him Captain, the Doctor is taking a look at him now" she looked at Lieutenant Hartstone and said "Are you alright sir?" He looked up and just opened his eyes and looked directly at her

"Crewman I'm not an officer I wear the uniform but I think rank is lost my name is Simon if didn't already know that will be fine"

"I'm sorry si….Simon" he could only smile at that

"Nice save crewman …." He was fishing for a name again

"Crewman Michelle Lang" Simon smiled wider

"Nice to meet you Michelle" she smiled back she thought this guy was nothing like a Borg, complete opposite of Seven of Nine. The Doctor put away his tricorder and interjected on the conversation

"I would like you to come to sickbay so I could run some additional scans"

"Of course Doctor" he stood up and let the Doctor lead the way

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The Doctor was just completing his scans when the Captain, Commander Tuvok and Neelix walked in.

"How is he Doctor?" the Captain asked

"Physically fit apart from a few minor cuts and scrapes he obviously got aboard that Borg ship" the Captain nodded in approval

"How do you feel Mr Hartstone" the Captain but a hand on his shoulder

"I have been better Captain" he put his head down solemnly

"Come on Mr Hartstone your sacrifice has just saved this ship and crew and when you're ready to talk about it, we have a chat about your role on Voyager"

"Thank you Captain, but I deserve to sit in the brig for the rest of the journey"

"Why do you think that?" Neelix interjected, as morale officer he hated seeing people down in the dumps

"You were right Captain I am a murderer and to cap it all off I had to pull the trigger on my own brothers" the Captain stared back at her two officers, Tuvok as always emotionless Tuvok stood looking straight at her while Neelix was staring intently at his toes wishing he never asked the question

"Mr Hartstone you were right the Borg are the most insidious race known to anybody they have to be stopped and sometimes radical actions need to be taken to do that. You were right we cant play wet nurse to the drones and disconnect them all it would be a waste of time, resources and manpower, but you shouldn't have tried to fight this fight alone" she smiled at him "The Borg will pay for what they have done but not today I am afraid"

"Yes Captain"

"It's a hard road to redemption Mr. Hartstone and I think you get it by doing good things for others not by exacting revenge on the ones that hurt you not even the Borg." Simon couldn't understand this concept quite but he thought he would understand in time "Now then onto better things Mr Neelix will be showing you to your quarters and Commander Chakotay is man you need to talk to about anything, although my ready room door is always open"

"Thank you Captain, I know I have just joined up and everything and I shouldn't really be asking this but could I borrow a Holodeck for just half an hour there is something I would like to do" he looked at her intently trying to mentally communicate his reasons, he didn't want to say the reason out loud if he could help it

"Of course Mr. Hartstone, Mr. Neelix could you arrange that for him"

"Right Away, Captain" Neelix said and walked out of the door

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Simon stood in a lonely grey field, looking at four coffins, and four tombstones, he didn't want to cry but he really could not help it. He knelt down and placed the holographic flowers on the holographic tombstones. The holographic priest said the last rites, but after a while of staring he told the computer to remove the character, and he stood there alone.

"You know" he started to say "I'm sorry for what I did, it just never dawned on me why didn't I say goodbye straight away. I waited too long to do this and now I can only do it standing alone in the Holodeck but I suppose better than nothing"

He felt odd giving a eulogy to his family with no one else here but what the hell. "You were the best family a guy could ask for and although I don't think I did you right these past 6 years I intend to make up for it, I was asked why I have been making myself purposely unhappy these past years and I don't really know. The only thing I do know that at least I hope that you would want me to be happy and want me to make new friends and someday start a family of my own."

He looked up at the sky now dripping with rain "Andrew, Michael I'm sorry for shooting you both and I hope when I get up there you wont hold it against me even though you have every reason too hold it against me. Thanks." Simon turned around and started to walk away

"Computer Exit" the exit appeared at the bottom of the field

"Computer Save program Hartstone Alpha 1"

"The program has been saved the computer chirped back in a happy voice"

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A few days later Simon was standing in his quarters looking out of the window of his new quarters. Sleeping was a little different as he used to sleep in the command chair on the Sword, sleeping in a bed again was a little different. Simon thought, "Good thing I don't have to regenerate" of course unlike Seven of Nine. Simon was assimilated as an adult therefore less dependant on his implants than Seven. That was a shame for Seven having to regenerate like a drone he silently promised himself that he would think of a way to change that.

He was sipping a small glass of water, his instinct was to go straight for the vodka but he pulled away at the last second. A new Simon needed new rules and rule one was no more alcohol.

He heard the door chime and he turned around "Come in" at the door he saw a small girl no more than 6 years old at the door, he smiled and walked up to her slowly but she didn't seem at all phased by him, he got down on one knee "I don't think I have met you yet"

"Hello my name is Naomi Wildman I am the Captain's Assistant"

"Captain's Assistant eh" he was pleasantly surprised he knew that the Captain wanted to make everyone feel useful aboard this ship and she had even found a position for a 6 year old girl "I am here to inform you of a ship function run by Lieutenant Paris and Neelix Lieutenant Paris calls it a 'Pool Party' its going to involve swimming if you want to attend it will start a 19:00 hours" she passed him a PADD with Tom's instructions for the party

"Thank you very much Ms. Wildman" since she was being very formal with him he felt the need to do the same in which he started by standing up straight.

"Although Neelix has told me your very sad right now about losing your family so if you don't want to attend the crew will understand"

"Thank you for being so caring Ms. Wildman"

"If you need anything Mr. Hartstone please don't hesitate to call me" Simon could only smile

"I will remember that and please call me Simon" Naomi smiled and she turned on her heels and left, the door shut behind her and Simon could only smile and laugh, he reviewed the PADD and drunk his water.


	9. Chapter 9: Leave Your Rank at the Door

**Punishment**

I am introducing a new character to the voyager crew another Borg male who is on a personal quest for redemption after the Borg destroyed his family.

Just so you know I own none of the Voyager characters, the ship or any of the ideas put forth in the series I am just borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

**Chapter 9: Leave Your Rank At The Door**

Simon was heading towards Holodeck 2; he was wearing a pair of swimming shorts, and a bright yellow shirt and sandals. He breathed in and stepped through the door into lights, music and laughter. Instantly Simon started to dance down the steps most of the people here didn't know him but he would find out everyone's individual stories in time. He looked on from the bottom of the steps and there were a lot of people hanging out by the pool, some people in the pool, splashing each other, swimming and having a good time.

Simon looked around and for one of the first times in a long time he didn't need to force a smile and actually wanted to smile. People started to notice Simon and froze to look at him some people mumbling amongst themselves. "What" Simon said holding out his hands "I like to make an entrance but I have never ground a party to a complete halt you know." The crew seemed to smile at this and they continued the fun they were having.

Captain Janeway walked over with Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman

"Simon you came!" Naomi shouted over the noise

"Well I was doing some thinking and the old me was a lot more fun loving and he would want me to come

"Glad to hear it Mr Hartstone" the Captain spoke up

"Naomi" a sound came from the pool they all looked over towards a young woman in the pool "do want to learn how to swim"

"Sure, I'm glad you came Simon" Naomi said as she bolted off towards the young woman

"Her mother" Simon almost whispered

"Yes" the Captain said "the first child born on Voyager, and I honestly hope she is not the last"

"Well she paid me a visit today and may I say Captain you have a very persuasive assistant" Simon smiled, Janeway laughed

"She is that but most of the crew thought you were not going to show and that would have been a great shame"

"Simon's new rules Captain, first rule is that I am going clean and sober and the second rule is never miss a party." Janeway only laughed again

"Two excellent rules I must say but I have a rule of my own that you must follow"

"I will follow it to the best of my ability Captain" he said with a puzzled look on his face

"Every member of this crew including me leaves his or her rank at the Holodeck door, that's an order"

"No problem Kathryn" he smiled

"Seven you look like your not in the party mood what is wrong" he frowned

"I am not one for these social gatherings or 'parties' but the Captain insists that I attend" Seven looked at Kathryn and Kathryn just looks back

"Ah! Seven your disobeying orders don't make me confine you to the Cargo Bay" Kathryn she said with a half serious tone they both new she was joking.

"I apologise Kathryn" she nodded and Kathryn nodded as well, Kathryn turned around and picked up the glass and dinged it with a spoon.

"Can I have everyone's attention I would just like to say something, to the newest member of our family, I hope you find what you are looking for, and that you become an integral part of the family." The Captain turned to Simon and said "would you like to say something Simon?" he nodded and picked up a glass of fruit juice from a tray that a holographic waiter was passing round

"Thank you Kathryn, I'm not one for speeches so I'll make this quick. A few days ago I couldn't understand any of you going home, frankly if I was in command we would have settled down on a planet and explored this quadrant. Good thing I'm not in command then" he laughed as other people laughed "but I realised that family and seeing them again is the driving force that have got you this far, as you may or may not know I have no family at home but I am starting to think of this crew as my new family and one I am looking forward to getting to know. Now eat, drink, be merry and discuss family stories because I am done" he swigged his drink down "Oh yeah if your by the pool and you don't want to get splashed I suggest you move because I haven't done this in a long time and its seems as good a time as any" everyone looked at him with a somewhat puzzled look.

"CANNONBALLLLLL" people watched as Simon made a run for the pool top speed, Harry and Tom knew what was coming so they wisely moved to side and the pulled B'Elanna as Simon jumped as high as he could hunched himself into a ball in mid air and made a resounding splash into the pool sending some rather large waves in every direction and splashing crewmembers including Commander Chakotay who just shook the water off "Sorry Chakotay but I did warn you" everybody laughed including Chakotay who could only agree with that final statement.

Simon did a few laps of the pool and starting to talk to members of the crew and they were willing to talk to him which was a surprise and as the party closed out the night and people started returning to their quarters Simon was left in the program alone and he sat on a lounge chair with another fruit juice and thought "I think I'm going to like it here" and he started laughing to himself.

**The End**

Watch out for the next instalment


End file.
